I hate bureaucracy!!

Back in the day, if you wanted a school place for your child, you went to the school, had a look around, filled out the form, handed it in at the office and if there was a space, they would offer it and give you the starting date.

Not any more though. These days, the Education Authority is outsourced, the applications process is centralised, and the whole thing is a nightmare.

First, I spoke to the headteacher of the school I wanted Matthew and Frankie to attend and asked if she had any spaces in year 4 and reception. Let me check, she said. Yes, 3 spaces in year 4 and 2 spaces in reception. Great I said, when could they start? Sorry, she said, you have to go through CEA@Islington, it's all changed now. Here's the number.

So I phoned CEA. I have a son in year 4, and a daughter in reception. I'd like them to go to my local primary school. There are spaces. When can they start?

Well first you need to download the application form, fill it out and send it back to us. Then we will check if there are spaces in the school you want, and if there are, contact the school to say they can allocate the places to your children. The school will then contact you to arrange a start date. By the way, the school you want has a waiting list in both those years and there are no spaces.

I duly downloaded the forms, filled them out, sent them off. Double checked with  the school about whether the places existed, apparently they did.

3 days later, I'd heard nothing, so I phoned CEA. There's a waiting list for both years. And they haven't processed the applications so they can't say where on the waiting list my children are. They said there may be spaces as the school reported, but they haven't updated their systems yet. The will work on it this afternoon and get back to me by 5pm.

2 days later, I called them again. Ah yes, Matthew is #2 on the waiting list. Frankie is #2 on the waiting list. There are 3 spaces in year 4, so I'll let the school know and he should be able to start Monday. There are 'potentially' 2 spaces in reception. But they are created by children who haven't shown up since the beginning of term, and we need to trace these children before we can offer the space. But Frankie will go to #1 on the waiting list as soon as Matthew starts due to siblings taking priority. I'll contact the school today so you can get Matthew in on Monday.

3 days later (yesterday), I still had heard nothing, so I phoned the school. They hadn't received the official offer for Matthew. So back to CEA. They had delayed sending Matthew's offer through as they thought they had potentially found one of the 'missing' children and so were trying to combine the 2 applications so Matthew and Frankie could start together. They were just waiting for the CME (Children Missing Edcuation) officer to report back. They would phone me that evening.

This morning, I called again! The CME officer wasn't in today, so they couldn't offer Frankie her place but they would send Matthew's offer through now. 2 hours later, the school phoned me. We visit the school on Monday, and Matthew starts Wednesday. Also on Wednesday, they should know whether Frankie has a place or not. PHEW!!

So I called CEA again. Are there any schools with spaces in year 10 for Kianna? Maybe. There are 'potentially' spaces in one school. You need to download the form....